Christmas Come Early
by Magawa
Summary: There was no way Kyo was letting Tohru take the bus all alone. Public transportation is highly dangerous. There were so many possibilities of things that could go wrong if Tohru went by herself. So Kyo gruffly offered to go with her.


A.N.: I wrote this while I was in China about two months ago. After an incredibly dangerous bus ride where I nearly killed an old lady by falling on her andinstead landedin the arms of the guy I've had this little crush on, I decided that my life was like a manga. Just less beautifully illustrated... So once again I've taken events that have happened in my own life and adapted them to the manga/anime that I love so much.

I don't even remotely own Fruits Basket. I even had to borrow the dvds to be able to watch it. Is nothing simple?

Christmas Come Early

By Magawa

He shook his head while watching the girl. 'Pathetic. Absolutely, adorably pathetic.' He let a small smile grace his lips as he watched the girl in front of him hop slightly to reach the cool metal bar of the bus handrail.

He'd offered to accompany Tohru to the shopping center across town to help her shop for Christmas gifts today. Christmas was only a few days away and there was still plenty of shopping to be done. But Yuki had school meetings and Shigure was being hounded by his editor and there was no way Kyo was letting Tohru take the bus all alone. Public transportation is highly dangerous. Who knew what kind of perverts she would meet if she got all spaced out and there was no one to look after her? What if she got off at the wrong stop and got lost? What if, what if, what if… There were so many possibilities of things that could go wrong if Tohru went by herself. So Kyo had gruffly offered to go with her.

He'd really have to remember to do little nice things for her more often. It was certainly worth it to see her special smile light her face, and even remain there hours later.

Kyo watched her finally grasp the bar only to hang uncomfortably with her toes barely touching the ground as the bus started to lurch forward and into traffic. She began to sway a little with the motion of the bus and Kyo couldn't help but grin. 'There's no way that's comfortable…' Schooling his features into the tough guy face he always wore, he tugged gently at the sleeve of her uniform.

"Huh? What do you need Kyo-kun?" she asked in her cheerful chirping voice before nearly falling over onto some poor old woman as the bus hit a pothole.

"Keh. Here hang onto my arm," Kyo said shortly, never looking directly at the girl.

"What if I fell and hugged you and there were all these people around? I wouldn't want you to…"

"It'll be fine," he said finally looking down at the worried girl next to him. "You won't fall with me here, okay? Plus if you just hold onto my arm there should be no danger of me changing…"

"Really? Thank you Kyo-kun. Now I won't have to worry about falling onto that poor old woman…That would be awful! I'd squish her! But riding the bus is such an experience… and the mall is so far away. I hope I don't forget which stop the mall is at! I can't wait to buy presents for everyone! I love going Christmas shopping, don't you Kyo-kun?" Her smile was brilliant and her demeanor happy to be out and doing things with one of her best friends.

"Uh, yeah. It's great," he replied, not very focused on her actual words but more their cheerful meaning.

The bus began to get really crowded with all the Christmas shoppers and their bags and Kyo became ever more focused on keeping Tohru and himself safe from the press of passengers than the light-hearted things Tohru was talking about. Almost unconsciously, he pulled her closer to him, keeping her out of the main path of human traffic around them.

This was fine until the bus lurched into another series of potholes before coming to a screeching halt behind another bus, nearly colliding in the process.

There were shouts of dismay as some people were knocked off their feet and pitched forward. This caused a domino effect of people flying forward into a heap. It also nearly caused the bus driver to completely lose control of the bus as one young passenger fell into his lap.

Tohru was luckier than most. She had someone to hold on to and to protect her from the main crush. However that second lurch (after the aforementioned girl fell into the bus driver's lap) was more than either she or Kyo was expecting.

She made a valiant effort to stay upright, she really did, but with the press of bodies all around trying to stay on their feet as well, it was just impossible. Her arms flailed wildly in a wind-milling motion before flying into Kyo, her arms settling around his torso. They both had one brief instant of calm before the anchor she was leaning on disappeared and she landed on her hands and knees.

Kyo landed with a slight hiss underneath the sheltering protection of her body, buried within his own clothes. Tohru gasped and began apologizing profusely until Kyo quickly told her to stop before she attracted any more unnecessary attention.

The current crazy state of the bus had allowed him to change undetected. One more pop and a little more smoke wasn't alerting anybody as to his curse, and there was no way he was staying on that bus as a cat. He was cursed, not crazy.

Quickly gathering up his clothes and the orange cat, Tohru made a hasty exit slipping out the side door and on to the crowded city streets. People rushed past, intent on getting their own errands done. No one paid attention to the girl with wild eyes and an armful of angry-looking cat. Tohru hurried to find an empty alley.

A few moments walking yielded a perfect place for them to hide until Kyo could return to his normal form. The alley was dark and dirty, with trashcans lining the brick walls, but no one would think to look down here for much of anything. It was deserted except for the large ugly rats that glared at them from behind the shadows of the trashcans. Tohru gently placed Kyo down on the uneven cobblestones and crouched down while still holding his clothes so that she could be more at eye-level with him.

"We can wait here until you change back," Tohru whispered to him.

"Feh. I know," Kyo said. "But why are you whispering? No one's going to hear us back here."

"Oh. Okay then," Tohru chirped, voice back to its normal volume.

Still crouched down, Tohru glanced around at her surroundings before focusing back onto Kyo. "So what do you want for Christmas Kyo-kun?"

Kyo gave a soft kitty kind of snort before saying, "Well that was rather random."

"I thought it'd help pass the time more quickly than if we just sat here. So I want to know what you'd like to have for Christmas…" she said trailing off uncertainly at the end.

"Aside from what I always want, you mean?"

"What you always want? No, tell me that too. Tell me what Kyo-kun wants." Kyo's eyes widened slightly, pupils dilating slowly. No one ever asked what he really wanted.

"I want to beat that damn rat first and foremost," he said firmly, sparks glinting in his eyes. "After that, I suppose I don't care what I get for Christmas. I'm certainly not used to expecting anything. The cat is always forgotten anyway."

"But if you could have anything in the world, what would you ask for?" Tohru pressed.

'You.' Kyo thought immediately before brushing the thought off as impossible to say aloud.

"I don't know, Tohru-kun," he said truthfully after a moment's pause. "I don't really need anything in particular and the things I do need just can't be given at one time like you would with a shirt or a box of candy. I guess if I could have anything, it would be to have a peaceful day, with good food and no dog or rat to spoil it…"

"So, you'd want the house to yourself for a day?" Tohru asked questioningly.

"Nah. It'd be okay if you were there, but that's about it – I wouldn't want the rest of the family there." Kyo answered before thinking.

Tohru's eyes widened somewhat at his including her in the "family," or even at him considering Yuki and Shigure to be true family, but a small poof! and a dusting of smoke caused her to shut them just as quickly. Keeping her eyes shut, Tohru slowly rose out of her crouching position to stand in front of Kyo, holding out his clothes as she rose.

Kyo dressed in record time. The fur of his coat was enough to keep him warm when he was a cat, but now he realized just how cold it was outside. He finished dressing and looked up to tell Tohru he was done.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the thin winter sunlight and smiled at him. He smiled back almost reflexively and she grabbed his hand to lead him back out towards the sunlight and other people.

Still slightly embarrassed from his lapse in the brain-mouth connection department and being naked in public with Tohru, Kyo cast about for a way to get her to think about other things. He finally settled on:

"So what do _you_ want for Christmas?"

"I guess my Christmas wish is very much like yours," she said, causing his heart to beat a little faster. "I want to have a quiet, peaceful day with the one I love," she said simply.

"The one you love?" Kyo asked bewildered, heart really beginning to hammer.

"Uh, I mean, uh, the _ones_ that I love," Tohru stammered. "You know, _you_, Shigure-san, Sohma-kun, Hana and Uo, Kisa-chan, Momiji-kun…" she trailed off. "You know…"

"Yeah I know," Kyo said, his heart dropping a little in disappointment. "Your Christmas wish is kind of hard to shop for though," he said thoughtfully trying to ease her nervous chatter.

"Yours is too then," she replied almost cheekily, smiling up at him.

"We're almost home now," Kyo stated. Tohru glanced at her surroundings finding them to be familiar.

"Yeah. I guess you'll just have to take me shopping another day. I don't think I want to get back on another bus at this point."

Kyo snorted softly, "Me either." And he didn't dispute taking her out again at a later date.

"How about we watch a movie then? Yuki won't be back til much later and I'm pretty sure Shigure probably left the house to avoid his editor…" She really didn't want to say that it would be just the two of them out loud – with their luck that would change if the fact were too loudly broadcast.

Kyo merely smiled in agreement as Tohru, overjoyed at his non-verbal 'yes' began listing off possible movies. She settled on "Pirates of the Caribbean" as she didn't think that it was too girly for him to stand watching, yet was still funny and romantic at times.

The house was quiet, as anticipated, and they settled in to enjoy the movie and each other's company. Tohru shivered slightly against the wintry chill that had followed them into the house, and Kyo got up to grab her a blanket. Tohru snuggled into it gratefully before leaning up against his shoulder and offering him half.

The credits were rolling past when Yuki and Shigure came back home to find the two curled up under the blanket and sleeping peacefully. Neither the Dog nor the Rat had the heart to wake them up. They both just looked so content there next to each other.

"Awh…" Shigure cooed looking at them. "They look so happy…like they just got what they really wanted for Christmas. Isn't that adorable?" He skipped away in delight.

Yuki, more practical and less giddy, softly answered, "They probably did."

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A.N.: Let me know if you like it. You know I love reviews. You know I'll love you if you leave me a review. So that should clinch the deal. 


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